Microsoft to submit wireless device for FCC testing

Prototype could be Zune's answer to rival iPod phone

By

JohnLetzing

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - A filing that Microsoft Corp. submitted Monday to the Federal Communications Commission suggests the technology giant will likely add phone service to its line of hand-held media players, now known as Zunes.

According to the filing, Microsoft and other firms will submit for the agency's approval a prototype of a wireless device that could be used to talk over the Internet. Apple Inc. made a similar filing, although chose a different technology, in advance of announcing its iPhone in January.

Since Apple
AAPL, -1.54%
unveiled the iPhone last month, speculation about a competing device from Microsoft has been rampant. Just as the iPhone descends from Apple's iPod, many think Microsoft's phone would descend from the Zune.

In the filing, Microsoft
MSFT, -0.74%
describes a wireless device that utilizes OFDM, a technology that can be used to route digital TV and voice calls among devices. Versions of OFDM have been tested and deployed for mobile phone use by carriers including Sprint Nextel Corp.
S, -0.21%
and closely-held Clearwire Corp.

Microsoft says that the intended use of the device is "consumer broadband access and networking."

The FCC filing makes no mention of the Zune, though Rob Enderle, an analyst with the research firm the Enderle Group, said the filing seems to indicate "an internet device or a mobile VoIP phone," that "certainly could be a Zune derivative product." Enderle said the Zune's current wireless capability only enables peer-to-peer sharing.

A VoIP-enabled Zune would differ greatly from the iPhone, which is intended for use on cellular networks. AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless network will be the first to carry the iPhone.

Enderle said that Microsoft would likely want to avoid partnering with large cellular carriers, who would demand a high level of control over product launches.

The filing also includes questions from officials about device specifications and Microsoft's official replies to those queries. A Microsoft spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Microsoft is part of a broad coalition of tech companies that has lobbied regulators for expanded wireless access to the Internet. Others in the coalition, which are mentioned in the filing as taking part in submitting the device for testing, include Google Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Intel Corp.

The coalition has focused on encouraging the FCC to make unused wireless spectrum -- originally allotted for things like digital TV -- available for Internet communication.

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